Sports
NWSL's first NYC game pits Gotham FC vs. Spirit at Citi Field
Nov 22, 2025; San Jose, California, USA; Gotham FC midfielder Rose Lavelle (16) is congratulated by forward Midge Purce (23) and midfielder Jaedyn Shaw (2) after she scored a goal against Washington Spirit during the second half at PayPal Park. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images The first NWSL game played in New York City will pit Gotham FC against the visiting Washington Spirit in a rematch of the league’s 2025 championship fixture, the teams announced Tuesday.
ESPN will televise “The Queens Classic” live from Citi Field, the home ballpark of the New York Mets, on July 15 at 8 p.m. ET.
Three days later, Gotham is scheduled to host Seattle Reign FC at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island on the bank of the Harlem River.
Gotham is relocating from Sports Illustrated Stadium, its home pitch in Harrison, N.J., for the matches in deference to the men’s FIFA World Cup final, scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in nearby East Rutherford, N.J.
“This summer will be transformational for soccer in our region, and we’re really excited to put women’s sports and our world-class athletes at Gotham FC front and center when a global spotlight is on New York,” Gotham FC chief business officer Ryan Dillon said in a news release.
“It will be a history-making summer of soccer, and this event ensures that we are a part of that.”
Gotham won its second NWSL championship in three seasons last November with a 1-0 victory over Washington in San Jose.
Midfielder Rose Lavelle broke a scoreless deadlock in the 80th minute to topple a powerhouse side led by Trinity Rodman, who became the world’s highest-paid female athlete in January when she signed a three-year contract with the Spirit worth more than $2 million annually.
Citi Field will be the third MLB stadium in as many years to host an NWSL match, joining Wrigley Field and Oracle Park. Last year’s Spirit-Bay FC game in San Francisco raised the league attendance record to 40,091, slightly under Citi Field’s 41,800-seat capacity.
“The District vs. Empire rivalry belongs on a big stage, and Citi Field delivers,” Spirit CEO Kim Stone said. “This is one of the most electric matchups in the NWSL, and our fans bring an intensity that demands to be seen. Playing in New York City just days before the World Cup final is a moment we’re not taking lightly.”
Washington opened the new NWSL season with a 1-0 loss to the Portland Thorns on Friday. Gotham blanked the expansion Boston Legacy 1-0 on Saturday.
The NWSL schedule pauses for all of June, but it will resume July 3 and overlap with the men’s World Cup knockout stage.
“Our specific focus for the 2026 season is to make sure that our games are in front of, and our product is in front of, people who love women’s soccer — agnostic to whether it is men or women,” commissioner Jessica Berman told ESPN last week.
“The NWSL is the best league in the world, and so if you love the best soccer in the world, you will love the NWSL.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fire earn road win as Union stay in Eastern basement
Mar 21, 2026; Chester, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Union forward Bruno Damiani (9) is tripped up by Chicago Fire defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi (4) while going for the ball during the first half at Subaru Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Jonathan Bamba scored his second goal early in the second half and the visiting Chicago Fire earned a 2-1 victory on Saturday against struggling Philadelphia Union.
Hugo Cuypers added his fourth goal late in the first half for the Fire (2-2-1, 7 points) who earned their first away victory of the season after leading the Eastern Conference with nine in 2025.
Chris Brady made three saves as Chicago avenged its elimination by Philadelphia in last year’s first-round playoff series and snapped a four-match winless run against the Union in all competitions.
Milan Iloski scored his first goal for Philadelphia just before halftime. But the Union (0-5-0, 0 points) extended the worst start for a reigning Supporters’ Shield holder, less than 72 hours after their elimination from the CONCACAF Champions Cup with a 1-1 draw at Mexico City’s Club America and a 2-1 aggregate defeat.
Bamba put Chicago in front in the 58th minute.
From near midfield, Cuypers spotted Robin Lod down the right. Lod eventually dribbled into the right edge of the penalty area on his right foot, before cutting back onto his left to cross.
With Cuyper in the center of the box, the cross sailed beyond just him, where Bamba connected with an excellent side-footed volley to beat Andre Blake inside the left post.
Philadelphia pressured for an equalizer, but Chicago came closest to scoring the game’s fourth goal. Maren Haile-Selassie missed narrowly wide on the break in the 63rd minute, then Lod rattled the crossbar from a similar attack in the 82nd.
Both teams scored during the more than seven minutes of first-half stoppage time.
First, it was Chicago through Cuypers.
Lod’s initial pass was deflected out wide, where Andrew Gutman reached it on the left flank.
Gutman drove forward and curled in an outswinging, left-footed cross. Cuypers ran between Philadelphia’s center backs to meet it with a powerful header past Blake from six yards out.
Philadelphia leveled from a long throw-in four minutes later. Alejandro Bedoya flicked on Frankie Westfield’s throw from the right, then Iloski won the second ball as he somehow generated enough power to loop his header over Brady and under the crossbar from near the penalty spot.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Houston routs Texas A&M to reach 7th straight Sweet 16
Houston’s Emanuel Sharp (21) and Kingston Flemings celebrate during a second-round game in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament between Houston Cougars and Texas A&M Aggies at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday March 21, 2026. Emanuel Sharp scored 18 points and second-seeded Houston delivered an 18-0 knockout punch in the first half to sail to an 88-57 victory over 10th-seeded Texas A&M on Saturday in a South Region second-round contest at Oklahoma City.
Chris Cenac Jr. registered 17 points and nine rebounds and Milos Uzan added 15 points for the Cougars (30-6), who will face either third-seeded Illinois or 11th-seeded VCU in next week’s Sweet 16 in Houston.
Mercy Miller added 12 points as the Cougars notched their fifth consecutive 30-win campaign and reached the Sweet 16 for the seventh straight season. The only program with a longer streak this century was Gonzaga, which made nine straight Sweet 16 appearances from 2015-24.
Josh Holloway was the only scorer in double figures for the Aggies (22-12) with 12 points. Leading scorer Rashaun Agee was limited to seven points.
The Cougars connected on 44.1% of their field-goal attempts, including 8 of 31 from 3-point range (25.8%). Houston held a commanding 46-29 rebounding edge and grabbed 19 on the offensive glass.
Texas A&M shot just 34.6% from the field, including 6 of 24 from behind the arc (25%). This was the second time in the past three NCAA Tournaments that the Aggies were eliminated in the second round by Houston.
The Aggies were within 25-24 after a 3-pointer by Zach Clemence with 7:43 left in the first half.
But Texas A&M missed 12 straight field-goal attempts and went 6:34 without scoring as Houston turned a one-point lead into a 43-24 advantage.
Cenac scored six of the final eight points during the run, including two free throws to cap it.
Pop Isaacs made two free throws with 1:09 remaining to end the scoring drought for the Aggies. Rylan Griffen’s runner with 28 seconds left halted the field-goal famine.
The Cougars led 46-28 at halftime and then came out charging in the second half. Kingston Flemings and Sharp each converted three-point plays and Cenac added a jumper to make it a 26-point lead just 42 seconds into the half.
The contest remained one-sided the rest of the way and the lead reached 30 on Miller’s turnaround with 1:17 to play.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Late charge nets Justin Allgaier fourth victory at Darlington
Mar 7, 2026; Avondale, Arizona, USA; JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier (7) celebrates his victory of the GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images DARLINGTON, S.C. — Justin Allgaier’s formula for winning Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway was simple enough: take advantage of excellent pit stops and muscle his way into the lead on the final two restarts.
The result was Allgaier’s fourth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at the 1.366-mile track, his second of the season and the 30th of his career, tying him with Joey Logano for seventh on the series’ career win list.
After a slow pit stop under the third and final caution on Lap 127 buried the dominant car of Kyle Larson in fifth place, Allgaier seized the lead from Brandon Jones on the last restart with 15 laps left and beat Jones to finish line by 0.578 seconds.
Allgaier is the first repeat winner of the 2026 season – he also won at Phoenix on March 7 — and his victory is the fourth straight for JR Motorsports Chevrolets.
“These guys have never quit all year — they won the race,” Allgaier said of his pit crew. “They’ve never given up. They were on top of it all day on pit road.
“We definitely weren’t the best all day. Kyle (Larson), obviously, was amazing. He had us covered. … I didn’t do a very good job with it all day, if I’m being honest with you. Probably one of the worst days personally I’ve had here at Darlington.
“At the end there, I was worried about Brandon (Jones) — he had a fast car — and I was worried that the 19 (third-place finisher Christopher Bell) and the 88 (Larson) were going to get through the traffic there.”
But it was the 39-year-old Allgaier who took the checkered flag, and the driver of the No. 7 JRM Camaro savored the victory.
“Nobody will ever know, the later you get into your career, how much these victories mean,” Allgaier said. “And to come at Darlington, a place I’ve loved for so long, is really special.”
Larson was able to catch and pass Allgaier after a restart on Lap 99, after losing a spot to Jones on pit road and watching Allgaier flash past into the lead on the restart lap.
But the final restart, which followed a five-car wreck involving Dean Thompson, Austin Hill, Kyle Sieg, Alex Labbe and Lavar Scott, was another matter. Larson could gain only one position and finished fourth ahead of Carson Kvapil.
“It became tougher to pass,” explained Larson, who led the first 94 laps from the pole and won the first two stages. “At the end, the pace picked up, and you’re stuck.
“Unfortunate, but that’s the way racing is sometimes. That sucks, but I had a lot of fun today.”
First off pit road under each of the final two cautions, Jones chose the bottom lane for the final restart, but Allgaier powered into the lead from the top lane.
“The 7 (Allgaier) just kept getting just barely better launches than I could on that second lane, and he had just a little more juice in the tank on the short run today,” Jones said. “We were matching, if not slightly better on the long run, but just ran out of laps there at the end.”
Corey Day finished sixth, posting his fifth-straight top 10 in his rookie season. Sheldon Creed, Parker Retzlaff, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer completed the top 10.
Allgaier heads for next Saturday’s race at Martinsville Speedway (3:30 p.m. on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a 52-point lead over second-place Jesse Love in the series standings. After spinning on pit road during the first stage break, Love recovered to finish 11th, his first result outside the top 10 this season.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race — Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200
Darlington Raceway, Darlington, S.C.
Saturday, March 21, 2026
1. (4) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 147.
2. (8) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 147.
3. (2) Christopher Bell(i), Toyota, 147.
4. (1) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 147.
5. (3) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 147.
6. (12) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 147.
7. (13) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 147.
8. (5) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 147.
9. (18) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 147.
10. (6) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 147.
11. (10) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 147.
12. (21) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 147.
13. (22) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 147.
14. (9) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 147.
15. (15) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 147.
16. (27) Nick Sanchez, Ford, 147.
17. (7) William Sawalich, Toyota, 147.
18. (23) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 147.
19. (30) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 147.
20. (32) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 147.
21. (33) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 147.
22. (14) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 147.
23. (19) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 147.
24. (17) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 147.
25. (20) JJ Yeley, Ford, 147.
26. (25) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 147.
27. (24) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 147.
28. (31) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 146.
29. (28) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 146.
30. (26) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 146.
31. (37) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 145.
32. (36) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 145.
33. (35) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 145.
34. (38) Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, 145.
35. (11) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 142.
36. (29) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, Accident, 123.
37. (16) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, DVP, 121.
38. (34) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, Accident, 120.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 112.442 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 47 Mins, 9 Secs. Margin of Victory: .578 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 25 laps.
Lead Changes: 6 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Larson(i) 1-94;B. Jones 95-98;J. Allgaier 99-114;K. Larson(i) 115-127;J. Williams 128;B. Jones 129-132;J. Allgaier 133-147.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Larson(i) 2 times for 107 laps; Justin Allgaier 2 times for 31 laps; Brandon Jones 2 times for 8 laps; Josh Williams 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 88,19,1,20,7,99,2,18,96,9
Stage #2 Top Ten: 88,1,20,7,99,9,96,17,19,18
–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
Fire earn road win as Union stay in Eastern basement
Houston routs Texas A&M to reach 7th straight Sweet 16
